Monday, October 29, 2012

Nintendo's new console, the Wii U, launches within the next month. Due to my finances, I likely either won't ever own one or at least won't pick one up for a couple of years. The system has its critics (including myself), but I'm still hyped up about its release.

Maybe I'm just being nostalgic, but some of my all-time favorite gaming experiences have occurred while playing a Nintendo system. The first Pikmen game, Pokemon Red, Super Smash Bros., most Super Mario games; they're all Nintendo and they're all great.

The Wii U will bring new IP's with tons of potential (like The Wonderful 101) along with epic sequels of fan favorites (i.e. Pikmen 3). With time, there'll be new Zelda, Metroid, and Super Smash Bros. games.

While it may not be as powerful as future Sony or Microsoft consoles (we don't know yet), it is certainly a step above the current generation of consoles. As long as the Wii U gamepad doesn't become a gimmick (like the Kinect), it has a chance of becoming something great. Currently, the Wii U can only support one gamepad per console (but you can still use Wii controllers, the Wii U pro controller, and others), but eventually that number will grow.

WiiTV will finally bring a great media center to a Nintendo system. Nintendo is also finally fully embracing online gaming. Despite my excitement, I do still REALLY wish that the Wii U was called basically anything else, but I won't allow such a minute criticism bring me down.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

I find myself lost in this strange world called "Iowa." As I walk through this sea of green, I don't feel like myself. I've become just another face, blending in all too well. My better half keeps me safe and sane, however, I still long to get the band back together.

Meet me in the suburban town of Willowbrook. I'll be waiting at the end of the culdesac that faces away from Madison, with my arms wide open.

At the end of a recent journalism exam I took, students were asked to write a poem about the telegraph for extra credit. In the two or three minutes that I had left by the time I reached the end, this is what I came up with:

Oh my dearest telegraph
What abominations you let me have
Tis all because of you
The internet devours my afternoon

How dare you my dearest telegraph
You've put cancer in my brain, you have
According to my doctor's note
I'm being kill by my cellular phone

So long my dearest telegraph
What little importance today you have
It's not over you today's children hath fought
It is but you who'll soon be forgot

Earlier today, I saw a large white pickup truck angle parked in a lot that didn't have angle parking, taking up two spaces. Three things kept me from slashing their tires.1. Witnesses.2. An appropriately sharp object.3. The realization that if I did slash their tires, they'd no longer be capable of leaving the spaces that I was furious at them for occupying in the first place."Other people are the worst part of life." - Dan Cummins - I have tried, but I can't argue with that statement.